Most people prepare for pregnancy and birth in detail. Far fewer prepare for what comes after, particularly the bleeding.
This surprises a lot of new parents, even ones who've read everything they could find. After birth, you bleed. This is called lochia, and it's completely normal. It happens whether you've had a home birth, a hospital birth, or a caesarean.
How long does it last, and what should you expect?
Lochia typically continues for around four to six weeks, though this varies. In the first few days, it's often heavier than a period, bright red, and can include small clots. Over the following one to two weeks it usually lightens to a pinkish or brownish colour, before tailing off into a lighter discharge that can continue on and off for several weeks. Every recovery looks slightly different, and that's normal too. If anything about your bleeding, or how you're feeling more generally, worries you at any point, please don't sit on it. Ask your midwife or GP. That's what they're there for.
What counts as excessive, and what to do about it
Most bleeding after birth is entirely normal, so this isn't about causing alarm, it's about knowing what to watch for so you can act calmly if you need to. Speak to your midwife promptly if you notice: soaking through a pad in an hour or less, more than once; the return of bright red bleeding after it had already settled to pink or brown; clots larger than a golf ball; or bleeding accompanied by a fever, feeling unwell, or a strong odour. In most cases this is easily managed once flagged. The point is simply not to sit on it, ask early rather than waiting to see.
So what do you actually use as sanitary protection?
Standard sanitary towels are the obvious choice, and completely fine. But it's worth knowing what else is out there before the early days arrive, since it's not the moment to be researching from scratch, or making do with whatever you happen to have in the cupboard.
Maternity pads are designed specifically for this period, more absorbent than a standard towel, without the adhesive wings that can be uncomfortable against sensitive, healing skin in the first week or two. Worth having a stock of these regardless of what else you choose.
Reusable cloth pads are worth genuine consideration, not just as an eco-friendly alternative but because many people find them more comfortable over long wear. Unbleached, chemical-free cotton against skin that's already tender and healing can make a real difference in the first fortnight, and there's no wing to peel off or reposition when you're exhausted and half asleep. They do mean more laundry in a period when laundry already feels relentless, so it's worth having enough in rotation, and deciding in advance who's going to be doing the washing.
Period pants have become much more common too, and some people find them easier to manage in the early days than pads of any kind, since there's nothing to shift, reposition or peel a wing off.
It's worth knowing that reliance on disposable, heavily processed sanitary products is far from universal. In many parts of the world, cloth and reusable options have always been the norm, not the alternative, and it's really only in some wealthier countries that disposable pads became the automatic default. There's no single right answer here, just what suits you, your body, and your household in those first few weeks.
Whatever you choose, buy more than you think you'll need before the birth, not after. The first few days are not the time to be sending someone out for supplies, or discovering the reusable pads you ordered are still in transit.
Other things worth watching for in the early weeks
Bleeding isn't the only thing your body is telling you about in this period. A few others worth keeping half an eye on, without turning it into a checklist that adds to the worry:
- Afterpains. Cramping as your uterus contracts back down, often stronger with a second or third baby, and often noticeably more intense while breastfeeding, since feeding triggers the same hormone that causes the contractions.
- Perineal or wound healing. Some soreness and swelling is normal in the first couple of weeks. Increasing pain, redness spreading outward, or discharge with an odour is worth flagging rather than waiting out. You will also need “Big “ knickers - one’s your granny would be proud of.
- How you're feeling, not just how you're healing. Physical recovery gets most of the attention, but the emotional side matters just as much. It's entirely normal to have wobbly, tearful days in the first couple of weeks. If low mood, anxiety or a sense of not coping is settling in rather than lifting, that's worth talking about too, just as much as anything physical.
- When your period returns. This varies hugely and depends partly on whether and how you're feeding. It's not a sign anything's wrong either way, but worth knowing it's a different thing from lochia if bleeding starts again after a gap.
None of this is about ticking boxes. It's about knowing roughly what's normal, so you can relax into the parts that are, and flag the parts that aren't without second-guessing yourself.